As you turn North from Torino you leave behind the rolling foothills of the Langhe and start to climb towards Europe’s highest peak and border with France: Monte Bianco. Once a colony of Piedmont, the Valle D’Aosta was ruled by the House of Savoy for over a century. The heights of Gran Paradiso Nature Reserve collide with the often swollen banks of the Dora Baltea River where vines, grasping to the steep mountain pistes, thrive. The soils are predominantly glacial moraine so grape choices and wine styles are primarily determined by altitude (300 - 800m). This is Italy’s smallest wine region and many of the wines never make it outside the Valle D’Aosta, never mind overseas. These wines are fresh and bright and would be perfect for a summer picnic, but they are also beautiful with rich game and charcuterie, fitting for the cold New England winter. 

2006 Maison Vevey Blanc de Morgex $22.00

Maison Vevey was founded in 1968 by Valle D’Aosta pioneer Albert Vevey and since 1990 has been led by his sons Mario and Mirko. The area under vine is miniscule, and their tiny production is less than 5000 bottles a year. The grapes come from the limit of elevation for the sustainability of vegetation, at an altitude of 1000-1100 meters above sea level. These are, as they like to claim, "the highest vineyards in Europe,” and we’ve seen nothing that would indicate otherwise. Grown on their own rootstock and trained on pergolas that are fiendishly difficult to harvest, the vines are tended organically. This is a wine where the fresh mountain air and Alpine flowers show through, and which can be enjoyed as an aperitif and with seafood (especially shellfish) dishes, white meat or a cheese course.

2006 Les Cretes Petit Arvine Blanc $50

In 1989 a project by fifth generation Valdostano farmer, Costantino Charrere, was realized and one of the Valle D’Aosta’s only private wineries at the time was born. On the 13 hectares of property they cultivate, spanning 5 communes along the Dora Baltea flume, indigenous grape varietals are the mainstay. Petit Arvine is considered unique to the Valle D’Aosta, though many a heated debate has challenged if it is actually of Swiss origin. Luckily the IAR (whose wine we are also tasting tonight) has “proven” (from the Italian side mind you) that Petit Arvine is actually a derivation of Prie` (Blanc de Morgex). Petite Arvine gets its name from the relatively tiny seeds in proportion to the grape. Les Crêtes has an annual bottle production of about 170,000 bottles that until recently had never left the region. High crop density, the selection of the best (warmest and best exposed) sites, native yeasts and rugged mountain climate all add to the complexities of the wines. Remember, this dry, full wine actually was harvested quite late and the grapes underwent many temperature changes before maturity, hence the layers of depth. The medieval tower on a small hill called Côteau La Tour is today the iconic symbol of the winery.

2006 Institute Agricole Regional Pinot Noir $21

Beginning in 1951 as a professional program, the program has grown into a 5-year scholastic Institute studying the preservation and innovation of indigenous Valle d’Aosta agrarian products ranging from potatoes to orchard fruit to wine. Organic and sustainable alpine agriculture are fundamental to the vision of the school. Students can enroll directly after secondary school but other programs are aimed at involving local farmers and professionals on many levels. Master winemakers and professors work both in the fields and in the lab. Genetic screening is a major focus (of the grapes, not the students!) and has helped determine the origins and traits of many clones and phenotypes of vitis vinifera. It is not that much of a stretch to imagine the wily Pinot Noir varietal crawling down the Saone valley, across the Jura and Savoy regions of France and settling in the Valle D’Aosta. This Pinot sees no oak aging, just a long maceration of the skins and a brief bottle age period before release.

2006 Aldo Rainoldi, Rosso di Valtellina, Lombardy $17

Ok, so we know that the Valtellina and the Valle D’Aosta are not the same, in fact they are quite different but share similarities. The Valle D’Aosta is its own region of Italy while the Valtellina is merely a sub-region of Lombardy, but the climate and grapes have a lot in common. Both regions are decidedly alpine and the Valtellina faces north towards Switzerland embracing the roaring Adda river which feeds into Lake Como. This creates a cool climate that is perfect for certain grapes, such as nebbiolo, here in the Valtellina called Chiavennasca. The most revered wines of the Valtellina go by the name Sforzat (a wine style not unlike Amarone, where the grapes are dried for a number of months before vinification). The cool, dry alpine winds provide the perfect environment for the “appassimento” of the grapes in small caverns called “fruttai”. Young 38 year-old Aldo Rainoldi, a third generation winemaker produces small quantities of traditional wines- from Sforzat to this Rosso, which features 100% nebbiolo with no oak aging. So take the opportunity to compare and contrast the wine styles of two of Italy’s most remote alpine wine production zones. Grosjean Freres Tonight we’re lucky enough to have two wines from Grosjean Freres, their Gamay and Torrette Supèrieur. Grosjean Freres is a small estate in the communes of Quart and Saint Christophe, and since 1975 the estate has farmed grapes using sustainable, natural methods. Vincent Grosjean is the current generation making wine at this family estate (though intersestingly, being born under Mussolini’s rule his official name was “Italianized” to Vincenzo). Their estate is tiny, like most in the Valle d’Aosta- only 5000 cases (of which just 500 come to the US through importer Neal Rosenthal), and there are no fancy tasting rooms or visitor’s facilities (or even a front door!).

2006 Gamay $27.00

Perhaps a more common varietal, but certainly not a common wine! As they share the same grape, you do see some of the Beaujolais-like character of the wine as you’d expect. But then the Valle d’Aoste stamps its terroir upon it and you know you’re in Northern Italy (though perhaps still speaking French!) But we can destruct this wine and see that it’s truly of it’s place- light-to-medium bodied due to elevation and its Northern Italian climate, rocky minerality from the glacial moraine soils the vines are grown in, and beautiful fruit that’s like something you’d find on a hike, not packaged in plastic (wild strawberries, perhaps?).

2006 Torrette Supèrieur $35.00

With the primary component (around 80%) of this blend being Petite Rouge, it’s likely something with which few outside the Valle d’Aoste are familiar. And if you consider the remaining 20% of Vien de Nus, Doucet, Fumin and Mayolet- well, things can get downright far out, man! This is a different sort of winter wine- we don’t have a big, bruising Aussie Shiraz or Châteauneuf-du-Pape. This is a wine to drink by the roaring fire, when you’re already snug in your PJs. This is a wine that lets a bit of the chill in, perhaps, but just enough that you know that it’s winter. There’s a delicacy here, but strength, too- like the crystalline frost on an old oak tree. So when you’re looking for something to keep you company those nights where you just grab some meats and cheese from the Salumeria, or when you invite some friends over for fondue, or even on a bearskin rug by the fire… look no further. Supèrieur, indeed!